strenthining lower back/increasing flexibility

[pgsam]

whats up guys- I've been trying to fix this problem on my own for a while, but to little/no avail. Hopefully a second opinion will help. heres my problem- the past 2 months or so I've been having some problems with pain in my lower back during almost any exercise involving it- SLDL, goodmornings, squats, DLs, even pendlay rows.

I will admit, my lower body (lower back/hams) are not as flexible as they should be. The pain is a muscular one, ranging from my middle back down to my glutes. Ive done some general stretching, like RDL holds with the bar etc, but it doesnt seem to be helping. Any direction in stretching/core strenthening would be appreciated, as ive been having trouble finding good resources in that field. I want to be able to get back to squatting/pulling strong ASAP, so any help would be great. just a brief description of what my routine has been for the past couple months- I ran an HST about 2 months ago, then started doing a version of DFHT with two upper/two lower days. my first lower day has squats, DL's, and GM's, and my second lower day has Squats, SLDL's, and ham curls.

i would GREATLY appreciate any help as this has become a pretty nagging problem with any lower body exercise. thanks!

 

[heineken8]

I think the most important thing is to figure out why your lower back is hurting to begin with. Maybe too much weight on deads or squats, or improper form like leaning over or arching your back. I did have a similar pain a while back and it was quite annoying. I found the best way to deal with it was to take a drop in the weight you use for that excecise and really focus on form. Also, it sounds like you may have injured your gluteus maximus. Some stretches that help me are to pull my knee up to my chest while standing, laying down and pulling my knee up while also pushing it toward the midline of my body, I'd also use very light weight and go through the motions of a squat or deadlift going very slowly and holding at the bottom of the lift to get a good stretch, also try to generally avoid twisting and jerking your lower back. I you take a temporary drop in weight and intensity in squats and deads, and stretch much more frequntly, your injury will recover much quicker and you will be able to get back to intense workouts without injury.